Sunday, April 25, 2010

If you would have told me that I would cloth diaper my baby and love it, I would have laughed in your face. My conception of cloth diapers was seriously dated. I had visions of safety pins and complicated wraps that would leave me elbow deep in baby poo. All skepticism aside I decided to do some research, to make the best decision for my Daughter. The facts that I uncovered were terrifying, do you even know the cornucopia of toxic chemicals disposable diapers contain? Or that Scientific studies show a link to asthma? If our founding Father's used disposable diapers they would still be sitting in our landfills, because they take a whopping 500 years to biodegrade. My main concern was how in the world would I keep up with the laundry?! The benefits of cloth out weighed my fears, so I jumped in.

My Cloth Diaper Wash Cycle:

With a lot of 22 diapers I do my laundry every other day. For potty diapers you toss them right in the diaper pail. For poo diapers quickly rinse the poo off with a diaper sprayer into your toilet, and toss in the diaper pail. My diaper pail has minimal stink. A lid keeps all funk contained and a sachet of baking soda helps absorb any odor. When laundry day arrives I simply empty the diaper pail into my front loading HE washer and do as follows:

1 cold rinse (no detergent)

1 hot wash with 1/3 tablespoon powder

1 extra cold rinse

Hang to dry

This process takes about 2 hours and does not back up my regular laundry. I must warn you cloth diapers are so adorable, you may become an addict.

You nailed it when you said our idea of cloth tends to be outdated....they've come a long way baby! Your new button is up at http://crazytownmayor.com, I will write the "grab box" code soon, & send along all the codes for you to use! E-mail me crazytownmayor@live.ca so I have an e-mail to send it too! Hope you like it, turned out well! :-D

Truly commendable effort and one giant step on your part toward conserving planet Earth. You have made using cloth diaper seemed such an easy experience. I hope that more can follow and hopefully one day I will follow too. And besides, your picture of cloth diapers is colorfully attractive.

I cloth diapered both of mine. My first-born was severely allergic to the absorbent gel in commercial disposable diapers, so with him I had no choice. When his baby brother came along, I already had the chinese prefolds and Bummis wraps, so it made sense. And yes, I got into to the "boutique" all-in-ones that various WAHM were making. I loved CuddleBuns, HoneyBoys, and hand-knitted wool soakers.

Moms used to look at me strangely and say I was a "martyr" and all that. But really, when you have kids laundry is a daily fact of life, so an extra load of diapers every other day is really no big deal. I wasn't trying to be some green-living pioneer or anything. As a mom, I just did what I knew was best for my children.

When my youngest (he's now almost 6) potty trained, I gave nearly all my cloth diapers and supplies to another mom whose baby was having a problem with rashes. I hope more and more moms at least consider cloth diapering as an option.

Crystal, The diapers I prefer are pockets. Which means there is an insert. They also make cloth diapers called all in ones, that do not have an insert. I would start with a starter kit, that allows you to try different types of diapers before dropping a bunch of money. I would suggest getting one size diapers.

Thanks Mayor, I really appreciate your kindness. I owe you a drinky poo!

Found you through LBS tea party and so happy that I did :) This is wonderful. One day when I have children, I will definitely do the same. I think it's great you're advocating for such a great cause. Keep up the good work (and I also love that photo!).

Okay, you'r seriously making me want to use cloth diapers! They are way too cute! Great photo, by the way.Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting on my "OH NO HE DIDN'T!" post. If you're planning on posting something for Wordless Wednesday, I'd love for you to come back and link up! Hope to see you soon. Have a great day!

One Love Mama. I love your blog. I am a bit of a crunchy mama and granola girl myself, cloth diapering and all. I was amazed to find how much I love cloth diapers and how much I don't mind the laundry. I have resisted becoming addicted and buying too many, but that's only because I'm trying to save money to compensate for buying expensive organic foods :)

I cannot wait to get to know you better. I think we can learn a lot from one another! Following your blog and hope you will check out mine as well...